A photographer’s frame work for witnessing our shared humanity | Tony Menias | TEDxChicago

Key Concepts

• The Art of Noticing: The ability to observe and appreciate the subtle details and rhythms of everyday life.
• Leap of Faith: Making a significant life change based on a calling or intuition, even in the face of uncertainty.
• Stripped-Down Essence of Life: Experiencing life in its most fundamental form, characterized by simplicity, honesty, and heart.
• Shared Humanity: Recognizing the universal experiences, joys, and instincts that connect people across different backgrounds.
• The Rhythm of Life: A concept representing flow, peace, and presence, found not by chasing but by surrendering and letting life be.
• Empathy and Universal Experience: Understanding that by observing and connecting with others, differences dissolve, revealing shared presence, beauty, and belonging.
• Presence: Being fully engaged and aware in the current moment.
• "Full of Love" (ful): The state of being when one is filled with love, leading to a clearer understanding of the world and the revelation of life's rhythm.

Tony Menes: The Art of Noticing

Tony Menes shares his journey from medicine to photography, emphasizing the profound insights gained through "the art of noticing." His story is a testament to embracing uncertainty, finding a calling, and discovering the universal rhythms of life through observation and empathy.

From Medicine to a Leap of Faith

Menes recounts his early life, influenced by his Egyptian family's expectation for him to become a doctor. While he enjoyed helping people, a deeper pull towards a different path emerged. A pivotal moment occurred when he failed a board exam, forcing him to question his chosen career. This led to a significant "leap" – after not matching for residency, he booked a one-way ticket to Asia with his first professional camera, despite not knowing how to use it. This act of leaving behind a predetermined life for the unknown, symbolized by a photograph of a boy, marked his transition into photography and a search for something more authentic.

Enlightenment Through Observation

His travels led to moments of profound realization, which he terms "enlightenment." In Bagan, Myanmar, witnessing monks walking into the sunrise, he experienced a moment where "time just paused just long enough for me to breathe it in." Similarly, observing a fisherman at dawn, despite the chaotic movement of his boat, he felt a sense of "peace" and "presence." This led him to define the "rhythm of life" not as sound, but as "flow, peace, being." He argues that this rhythm is found not by chasing, but by "surrendering, by letting go, and by letting life be."

The Universal Rhythm of Humanity

Menes highlights a recurring observation across his travels: children skipping rocks. He notes the identical motion, play, joy, and instinct to interact with nature, whether seen in Egypt, Thailand, Cuba, or Chicago. This leads to the core argument that despite differences in race or religion, "in that moment, they're simply human." He posits that our "shared humanity is the rhythm that unites us," and recognizing this fosters a greater capacity for love.

Mantras for Living

Based on his experiences, Menes adopted several guiding mantras:

• Free your heart from hate.
• Free your mind from worry.
• Give more, expect less.
• Live simply.
• Embrace the chaos.

The "Rabbit Hole" Photograph and Universal Truths

A photograph he calls "into the rabbit hole" proved to be a turning point. Its publication by National Geographic validated his new path and encouraged him to delve deeper into photography as a "way of life." This led to extensive travel across over 50 countries, capturing hundreds of thousands of images. Through this process, a central truth emerged: "When you learn to truly observe, slow down, shift your perspectives and appreciate the quiet rhythms of daily life, you'll begin to see that the human experience is universal." He emphasizes that "through empathy, our differences dissolve. And what remains is presence, beauty, and belonging."

The Power of Seeing and Being

Menes draws a parallel between his medical training to "listen without judgment" and his current approach with a camera. He avoids posing or interfering, allowing life to unfold naturally. This stillness, he believes, reveals the "rhythm" in everyday activities like children playing or people going about their daily routines. He asserts that this rhythm is a "web that connects us all" and is present everywhere, even in a divided city like Chicago. He demonstrates this by bringing people from different neighborhoods together through photography, where they "stand shoulder-to-shoulder and they begin to share stories," breaking down walls and borders.

Conclusion and Call to Action

Menes concludes by stating that one doesn't need to quit their profession or travel extensively to experience these insights. The key is to "be present. Slow down, look closer, and let yourself feel." He believes that when one feels "full of love," the world makes more sense, and "the rhythm reveals itself." He creates under the name "ful" because he believes that when one is "full of love, the world will start to make a little bit more sense and the rhythm has always been there. You just have to give yourself permission to see it."